Project makes it easier for residents to recycle their unwanted stuff

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HOW many of us realise that the cleaners and maids in our apartments and condominiums are eco-friendly?

They sift through our garbage, select recyclable materials and put them aside to be sold.

Many would argue that the cleaners are doing it for the money but it is the thought that counts.

Realising the potential for recycling projects in their Seri Raja Chulan condominium, two residents, Gregers Reimann and Matthias Gelber from the Eco Warriors Malaysia, put their plan into action.

Reimann first started a small recycling project on his floor with several bins to separate the waste.

Purpose-fitted: Reimann (right) and Gelber showing a waste disposal room with the bins and fixtures to dispose of recyclable materials.

“I told everyone on the 12th floor to use the bin and I’d collect the recyclable materials once or twice a week,” he said.

He would then take the materials to Mid Valley Megamall to be recycled. Little did Reimann know, the cleaners went through the garbage each day to separate the recycling items to be sold.

“If I’d known about it earlier, I would have been happy to give the recycling items to them and they could have earned some pocket money,” he added.

The two nature lovers recently held a press conference at the condominium to share their success story with others.

In March this year, Gelber suggested they call Alam Flora to collect the waste. However, they were told Alam Flora would only collect the recycling materials once a certain amount had been collected.

Both the men were also advised to contact private recycling companies for better rates.

“We had a meeting with the management company, Henry Butcher Malaysia, and the cleaners and decided to place recycling bins in each waste disposal room on every floor,” Gelber said.

He added that the move was to make the task easy for all residents so people would be happy to do it.

The management company bore all costs of placing bins for glass, plastic, metal bottles and cans, recycling containers for batteries and CDs, shelves for paper and cardboard, metal brackets for mounting and printing of recycling labels.

“The total cost is RM675, which is RM7.40 per unit, and it is a one-time expenditure so we do not think it is too much,” building executive Lee Yoke Fatt said.

In fact, the management company is so happy with the project that it is implementing it in all the 30 condominiums it manages.

For cleaner Risnarlia Zahid, 25, the money she earns from recycling is welcome relief.

She was one of the first cleaners to initiate the recycling programme before Gelber and Reimann started their project in June.

“I used to go through the garbage and pick out the recyclable materials. I would have to wait for nearly a month before I collected enough to be sold,” she said.

She added that she personally contacted the private recycling companies to pick up the materials, having obtained the companies’ telephone numbers from her friends who did the same thing.

According to Risnarlia, the recycling materials have doubled since the project started.

For 100kg newspapers, the cleaners can easily get RM20, while for CDs, they can get RM4 per 2kg. They have been earning about RM50 each recently, a considerable sum of money for them.

Risnarlia, however, saves the batteries she collects as Reimann and Gelber have not found a company that takes in used batteries for recycling.

“I just hope other condominiums and individuals will follow suit. All they have to do is make it easy for the residents and they will join in the project,” Gelber said.